A man has been found guilty of wounding with intent after a boy was stabbed in St Leonards.

Ian Bryan, 58, unemployed of St Margaret’s Road, was convicted at Brighton Crown Court yesterday (Nov 3rd) after a week-long trial.

He was found guilty of one count of wounding with intent and one count of attempted wounding with intent after an altercation at St Margaret’s Road around 9.26pm on Wednesday, April 22nd.

The two victims, aged 17 and 32 at the time, were staying in a property next door to Bryan while they carried out some engineering work in the area.

Earlier in the evening an argument had broken out between them as Bryan challenged the victims as to why they were there, believing they shouldn’t be due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The two victims left the address shortly after 8pm and at 8.15pm, Bryan called police to report the victims for breaching the government’s Covid-19 restrictions.

The victims returned to their accommodation at 8.35pm and at 9.26pm, Bryan called a direct non-emergency number to state that a crime was about to be committed. 

Victims heard three or four bangs…

At this time, the two victims heard three or four bangs at their front door. The 17-year-old answered the door and was attacked by Bryan, suffering a serious wound to his neck.

The second victim fought Bryan off and also suffered a minor injury to his leg. The two victims ran to the street outside and called an ambulance at 9.27pm.

Police and paramedics attended the scene. Bryan was found in possession of two knives and after failing to respond to orders to drop them, was tasered and arrested.

The 17-year-old victim was rushed to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for emergency surgery. Fortunately, he made a good physical recovery and was discharged a few days later.

Bryan was also taken to hospital for treatment to injuries he suffered during the incident. On discharge, he was taken into custody for questioning and was subsequently charged with two counts of attempted murder.

A unanimous jury found him not guilty of attempted murder, but guilty of wounding with intent and attempted wounding with intent. He has been remanded in custody for sentencing on December 21st.

Chief Superintendent Tanya Jones, Divisional Commander for East Sussex, said: “We acknowledge the observations made at the trial around the response to the incident by Sussex Police. Due to contact with Ian Bryan before the incident, it was referred at an early stage as a matter of course to the Independent Office for Police Contact (IOPC) and we await their report.”